Eat Breakfast

I have, historically, always been a morning person. There has always been something about being up before the world seems to raise it's eyelids that's been appealing to me. The stillness, the calm before the inevitable daily storm. It's always been my jam! Five years old, as my mom says, my lil butt was up with a bowl of dry Rice Krispies, with a mountain of sugar, taking in the sporting events from the day before with ESPN. I just had to get my fill.

That hasn't changed as an adult. It's the time of day for me to center, to prepare for all that I have in the queue. Getting my boys to school, sitting down to tie myself to a comp for 9 hours so I can keep the lights on, then it's the rush of practices, homework, bathes and bed time - wash, rinse, repeat.

For so long, that has been the scenario, that has been the agenda and the routine. Mindlessly rising each morning to repeat a pattern that, ultimately, was only rewarding because it felt GOOD to be the first up and help my kids start their days. I make them breakfast that, sometimes, they love and, other times, they look at me like I've introduced prison food. (not that I know what that's like - I heard from a friend.) I wasn't unhappy doing so, but it was just a "thing". It was part of the cycle for my days, that turned to weeks, that turn to years and here I sit wondering what I really accomplished in all of those mornings up before the sun...?

When I was coaching, those mornings were priceless. I would wake and immediately start listening to an audio book, put on a motivational speech, or write my thoughts or goals for the day that needed to happen. I'd find time for the gym, daily, and I would plan my diet accordingly. I was ON. I was motivated because the path I was strolling down gave me the opportunity to give back. It gave me the opportunity to feel that what I was doing actually mattered or resonated in the lives of those around me. Coaching, I had a mission. I had a drive because it made me feel alive. This bled into everything that I did - my relationships, friendships, how I did the damn dishes.... All of it.

But that changed. That passion burnt out and I took on a new one. I was able to have my boys full time and I needed that time with them and them with me. With that change came a new job, a new goal and a new passion. These changes and excitement would only last so long because the vision of what I was doing was severely blurred in the conformity of what happens when we are caught planning for life while it's happening around us. I didn't get up as early anymore, I stopped making the prison food breakfast and the "good" breakfasts. The audio books, motivational speeches and quiet time fell to the wayside. My pattern became limp, lame and.... well, uninspired is the best way to put it. I was going through the motions like a tireless drone waiting for some ultimate event or end that would change it all. That never came.

Until recently, this is where I was, this is how I was navigating my world around me. But then, something did change - I did. I realized that anything and everything around me was within my control. That I could continue to impact, as I had with coaching, the lives around me and make those differences that I had enjoyed so much before. This is where the blog comes in to play. The push and the drive comes from not wanting to have meaningless mornings anymore once I've sent my kids off to school. Because, as we all know, they grow fast and these mornings will come to an end one day. They will be grown and, God-willing, move on to their own lives away from my home. So, what was I waiting for? What are we all waiting for?

Now, I wake up and those mornings, those early mornings as the world rolls over to decide if it wants to hit snooze or rise: I already have. I'm already going. I am up packing the lunch, making the chocolate chip pancakes with bacon smiles and egg eyes. I am sitting here with a cup of coffee being raw with you. Why, because the morning is a beginning. It's new. It's fresh. For me and for you. We can decide if we want to make the prison food breakfast or if we want to smash out a course that is going to make the rest of the day be filled with motivation and drive to take it all on and take it all in!

The speeches are back, the audio books are back and the quiet time is back. But this time around, soon, those speeches and books will be my own. That is my mission, my passion and my drive that I promise each day for myself, my kids and my family.

So what will you do with yours?

J.L. Copeland